Ex-president avoided past ‘shithole countries’ racist invective, but said the US hadn’t gotten enough immigrants from ‘nice countries’

Ex-president avoided past ‘shithole countries’ racist invective, but said the US hadn’t gotten enough immigrants from ‘nice countries’

Donald Trump bemoaned a lack of immigrants to the US from “nice” countries “like Denmark [or] Switzerland”, offering millionaire donors at a Florida fundraiser a reprise of infamous racist Oval Office remarks about people coming to America from “shithole countries”.

Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for president again, despite facing 88 criminal charges and multimillion-dollar civil penalties for tax fraud and defamation, the latter arising from a rape allegation a judge called “substantially true”.

According to the New York Times, which cited an unnamed attendee at the Saturday event in Palm Beach, Trump told his audience: “These are people coming in from prisons and jails. They’re coming in from just unbelievable places and countries, countries that are a disaster.

“And when I said, you know, ‘Why can’t we allow people to come in from nice countries,’ I’m trying to be nice. Nice countries, you know like Denmark, Switzerland? Do we have any people coming in from Denmark? How about Switzerland? How about Norway?”

  • ben_dover@lemmy.world
    522·
    7 months ago

    Why would someone go from a “nice” country to the US? People want to improve their situation

    • laughterlaughter@lemmy.world
      725·
      7 months ago

      The U.S. is not some homogeneous entity. It’s huge. It has its bad regions, but it also has its awesome regions as well. Just like the U.K.

      • XIIIesq@lemmy.world
        301·
        7 months ago

        You’re missing the point.

        People don’t up sticks and move across the world for the fun of it. They do it because they seek a better life, the US mostly can’t offer that for people who already live in an advanced country.

        Like wise, if you don’t want immigrants from “shit hole” countries, your options are to help make their own country better so that they won’t want to leave or to make your own country shitter than theirs so that they won’t want to come.

        • samus12345@lemmy.worldEnglish
          13·
          7 months ago

          or to make your own country shitter than theirs so that they won’t want to come.

          Republicans are certainly trying!

        • laughterlaughter@lemmy.world
          517·
          7 months ago

          I moved to Germany for the fun of it (you could say that I was seeking a better life, I guess.)

          I’ve also moved across states in the U.S. for the fun it.

          It can happen.

          I’m aware that a whole lot of people do it for different reasons, though.

          And yeah, I find it funny when Americans complain about migrants from, say, Central America. They should learn the role the U.S. played in destabilizing the region in the 80s.

      • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
        15·
        7 months ago

        But it has no social safety nets really which is what “nice white countries” tend to have. Who wants to move somewhere without universal health care from a place that does?

        And also about half the population is certifiable.

        • laughterlaughter@lemmy.world
          32·
          7 months ago

          You have a point.

          And no, not half of the population. Maybe half of the voting population. The newer generations are less tolerant of the ongoing GOP bullshit.

          Twice in a row Donald Trump lost the popular vote, by millions of people.